Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector with a locking mechanism. In particular, the present invention relates to a connector with a locking mechanism, provided with a locking mechanism making it possible to mechanically retain a mating connector.
Related Art
Connectors made of an electrically and mechanically connected pair of a connector where a socket contact with a plurality of attached cables is mounted, and a connector having a plurality of pin contacts, are known. For example, circuit board-to-wire connectors are known. In this case, one connector is mounted on the printed circuit board, and another connector with an attached cable is detachably connected to the one connector.
Such connectors for electrical connection, in order to reliably connect the one connector with the other connector, are often provided with locking mechanisms. In circuit board-to-wire connectors, with respect to one connector, the cables are arranged on the other connector, and therefore, these are particularly frequently provided with locking mechanisms.
As such connectors with locking mechanisms, for example, the one disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-164294 (below referred to as Patent Document 1) may be mentioned. Patent Document 1 discloses a connector with a locking mechanism provided with a so-called lever lock type locking mechanism wherein one connector on which a plurality of cables is disposed is provided with a lever type lock arm, and another connector is provided with a hook portion lockable with the lock arm.
Further, as such connectors with locking mechanisms, for example, the one disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-67988 (below referred to as Patent Document 2) may be mentioned. Patent Document 2 discloses a connector with a locking mechanism provided with a so-called friction lock type locking mechanism wherein one connector on which a plurality of cables is disposed is provided with a pair of protrusions projecting from an outer wall, and on the other connector a pair of locking holes which fit these protrusions are opened so as to pass through from an inner wall to an outer wall, and the one connector and the other connector are locked by frictional force.
In the lever lock type locking mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1, the complete fitting of the plug and the base connector can be felt by the feeling when the tip of the lock arm rides over the engaging protrusion (the so-called click feel).
On the other hand, in the lever lock type locking mechanism, other than when inserting and removing the connectors, the lock arm constituted at the outer wall of the housing can be said to be an unnecessary protrusion. There is the concern that other objects mounted on the printed circuit board may abut the lock arm, thereby making the locking of the connectors unstable.
The friction lock type locking mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 2 is not provided with a lock arm provided at the outer wall of the connector, and thus there is no concern of the locking of the connectors becoming unstable.
However, the friction lock type locking mechanism locks the one connector and the other connector by frictional force, and therefore, it is an inconvenient structure in that it is not easy to feel the complete fitting of the one connector and the other connector.
The present invention was made in consideration of problems such as those described above, and has the objective of providing a connector with a locking mechanism which, in addition to making it possible to feel the complete fitting of the one connector and the other connector, also has excellent operability.